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Marketing for Geeks
Developers involved with
Marketing
Eric Sink
SourceGear
http://software.ericsink.com/
Why?
• At many small software companies,
people wear lots of hats.
• At a Micro-ISV, one person wears ALL the
hats.
• Even at larger companies:
• Many developers are already doing
marketing whether they know it or not.
Product = DevTeam.Build(Something);
Marketing.TellEverybodyAbout(Product);
• “My product is almost in beta, so it’s time
to start thinking about marketing.”
• “The product isn’t the problem. We built a
good product, then those marketing
people screwed up.”
Something = Somebody.DecideWhatToBuild();
Product = DevTeam.Build(Something);
Marketing.TellEverybodyAboutIt(Product);
DecideWhatToBuild
• New product ideas
• New feature ideas
• Assertion: Deciding what products or
features to build is [at least in part] a
marketing activity.
Two Phases
Marketing has two phases
1. Strategy
(DecideWhatToBuild)
(build the product)
2. Communications (TellEverybodyAboutIt)
We tend to gloss over phase 1, even though
it is the more important of the two.
• Are developers involved in deciding what
features to build?
• Then developers are involved in
marketing.
• Even if they don’t think of it that way.
• (TellEverybodyAboutIt too)
Our Challenge
• In general, we [geeks] are really bad at
marketing.
To be fair…
• Almost everybody is really bad at
marketing.
• But I think we developers are worse than
most.
• Three reasons why…
Three Problems
• The Developer Mentality
– Pride in our craftsmanship
– The belief that we are normal
– Black/white thinking
Just to be clear…
• “We”
• “Preaching above myself”
Problem 1
• Pride in our Craftsmanship
• (aka “Disdain for everything but code”)
• We think of marketing or sales as
something that can subtract value if it is
done poorly, not as something that can
add value if it is done well.
Story
• Changing the ordering of the product list
• This is not the worst problem to have.
• Craftsmanship
JGMYPB
• Which of these situations would you
choose?
– Great product, lousy sales/marketing
– Lousy product, great sales/marketing
• Overthinking in sales/marketing
Balance
• The proper balance: Perhaps 70/30.
Action Item
• Don’t compromise on product.
• But don’t treat sales/marketing as a waste
of time.
• We need to recognize that marketing and
sales are worthwhile endeavors that can
improve the success of a product.
Confession
• I am occasionally guilty of this attitude
myself.
• 
Problem 2
• The [sadly mistaken] belief that we are
normal
DecideWhatToBuild
• Bad Ideas Galore
• The list of all my bad ideas for products
and features would not fit on this slide in a
6pt font.
• This in itself is not a problem.
• But we spent money on some of these…
• 
• Product idea: Contact lenses for cats
It Goes Both Ways
• We have an uncanny ability to
– Believe that bad ideas are good
• AND
– Believe that good ideas are bad.
• SourceOffSite
Total Revenue
• $14,837,958.17
I  Technology
• Why are we so bad at this?
• Because we love technology for its own
sake.
• Normal people don’t.
Product Idea
• UI components for Erlang developers!
Getting There
•
•
•
•
Fall in love with a technology
Look for a product I can build with it
Go into “flat food mode”
Ship it!
And invariably…
• The initial customers LOVE it.
Validation!
• We love technology.
• We think everybody else [does|should]
too.
• The market tells us that we are right.
– Initially…
Getting Fooled
Early Adopters
• Early Adopters are
– Easy to get
• They’ll try anything that’s new.
– Easy to lose
• Very shortly, your product won’t be new anymore.
The Majority
• Conservatives and Pragmatists are
– Hard to get
• They won’t try anything until they see somebody
else doing it.
– Hard to lose
• They don’t like change.
Geek Ideas
• We tend to come up with ideas for
– Early adopters (fast start, short life)
• Instead of
– The Majority (slow start, long life)
Action Item
• Stop thinking about how to use some
technology we adore.
• Start thinking about how to solve problems
that normal people have.
Confession
• Hello, my name is Eric and I am a
Technoholic.
Problem 3
• Black and White Thinking
• Mindset proceeds from a world that is all
binary
• Marketing and sales are all about floats,
not bools
– Will people buy this product?
– How many people will buy this product?
Competition
• All or nothing
• Winner takes all
• The monopolies in personal computing
don’t help our thinking much
– Microsoft, Intel
• Traditional markets don’t work this way
– (Soft drinks, mobile phones, cars)
• But even in the software industry, lots of
market segments are still very fragmented
Story
• Students at the UIUC job fair
• Avoid Competition:
• Build a product that nobody wants
Compete!
• Look at your competition
• Pick one attribute
• Be the best at one thing
Action Item
• Banish “yes or no” questions from our
DecideWhatToBuild conversations.
Closing
• Geeks in marketing